The meeting was held over the internet via a Zoom video conference. The following people were present:

Name Call Sign Position MH Grid WCARC RAC
Bertrand Zauhar VE2ZAZ Secretary FN25bk Yes Yes
Mike Kennedy VA3TEC President FN25 Yes Yes
Lawrence Dobranski VA3IQ Vice President FN25 Yes Yes
Charles MacDonald VA3CPY Member FN25ag Yes Yes
Karen Bryden VA3IGO Member FN25ag Yes Yes
Rémi De Cristofaro VA3DRI Member FN25 Yes Yes
Norman Siemens VE3NPP Member FN25 Yes Yes
Diane Bruce VA3DB visitor FN25 No Yes
Larissa Reise VE3KGC Visitor FN14 No -
Wayne Getchell VE3CZO Director FN25dh Yes Yes
Clayton Smith VE3IRR Member EN82qb Yes Yes
Rich Ferch VE3KI Member FN25 Yes Yes
Ray Perrin VE3FN Treasurer FN25dk Yes Yes
Randy Nordlund VE3AX Member FN25jg Yes Yes
Leo Yoshinaka VA3CZZ Visitor - No -

Opening

The meeting was opened by the President, Mike Kennedy (VA3TEC), at 7:12 pm. There were three visitors attending the meeting.

Secretary’s Report

  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) posted a draft version of the April 2024 meeting minutes on the Club website prior to this meeting. Moved by him that the minutes be adopted as posted on the website. Seconded by Randy (VE3AX). The motion was carried.

Treasurer’s Report

  • Ray (VE3FN) reported: I just received the latest statement from our bank. It shows that as of the end of April, we had $15.00 in our Share Account, $3,029.29 in our Daily Banking Account, and $2,185.44 in our Term Deposit. This represents an increase of $0.12 from last month. Two cheques have been written but they have not yet been charged to our bank account. These should appear in our statement for May.
  • The Club currently has 20 regular (paid) members and 3 life members.

Vice President’s Report

  • Upcoming presentations:
    • Confirmed:
      • June: Clayton (VE3IRR), Summary of our VHF contest participation.
      • September: Craig Delmage (VE3OP), The new RAC radio station
    • In planning:
      • Wayne (VE3CZO), The USB serial bus
      • Later this summer, Ultra-VLF
      • October: Summary of the 2024 Microwave Update Conference
      • Peterborough ARC: Their AREDN network
    • Please contact Lawrence if there are projects you would like to talk about.
  • Lawrence is working on having a Club breakfast on Saturday May 25th, again at Zak’s Diner.

Director’s Report

The director had nothing to report.

President’s Report

The President had nothing to report.

Presentation(s):

None, as this meeting was allocated to the WCARC’s participation in the ARRL June VHF Contest.

Old Business

  • Constitution and bylaws discussion: Norman (VE3NPP) briefly described the exercise. In summary, we are forced to change our Club constitution and bylaws. He ran the bylaws builder tool provided on the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) website to produce a customized template. Then Norman, along with Bert (VE2ZAZ), added in our existing constitution and bylaw clauses. The Officers will meet on that topic on April 14th to revise the proposed document. Then we will organize a special meeting to have all members vote on it. The entire process should be completed by October 14th, 2024.
  • ARRL June VHF contest: A lengthy discussion was held in preparation for our participation in the 2024 ARRL June VHF Contest, which will take place from June 7th to June 10th.

New Business

  • Mike (VA3TEC) proposed to build a “Gin Pole” to help raise/lower our towers during the VHF contest.

Show and tell

Lawrence (VA3IQ) - The Northeast VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference. There were eight hams from Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec who were present. They had a lot of fun and had great conversations.

Ask the Club

No questions were asked.

Adjournment

The President observed that there was no further business; the meeting was adjourned at 9:45pm.